The orcas are mad as hell...

I've been doing a bit of traveling of late - Tucson, Ireland, Chicago - and have a couple of trips coming up (State of Washington, NYC) - but, fortunately, none of my jaunts involve sailing in the Strait of Gibraltar. Because the orcas have been on the attack of late, ramming into small vessels making their way through what I guess the orcas consider their waters. 

The [latest] incident follows at least 20 interactions this month alone in the Strait of Gibraltar between small vessels and the highly social apex predators. In 2022, there were 207 reported interactions, GTOA [Grupo de Trabajo Orca Atlántica, or  Atlantic Orca Working Group] data showed. (Source: AlJazeera)

In most cases the boats have just been damaged, and could be towed to shore. After a few rammings, however, the boats were flooded and left to sink into the drink.

Orcas, a.k.a., killer whales (think Shamu) are not whales. They're dolphins. Think Flipper ("faster than lightning; no one you see, is smarter than he").  Think Fa loves Pa in Day of the Dolphin.

Only bigger than Flipper, Fa, and Pa. And a cool black and white, rather than boring dolphin gray. 

A study published in 2021 on orca interactions with vessels in the Strait of Gibraltar said that several orcas began showing disruptive behaviour towards boats in 2020 – most were sailing vessels but also involved fishing boats and motorboats.

“The animals bumped, pushed and turned the boats,” the report stated, noting that 14 individual orcas, most of them juveniles, had been identified engaging in such behaviour.

Teen gangs of orcas? Who knew? 

Scientists don't necesarily believe that the orca version of the Sharks and Jets are acting in an aggressive manner. It may just be that they're being "curious and playful."

Or it may just be that they're the aquatic version of bored, snotnosed teens, riding around country roads slugging mailboxes with baseball bats. 

It's also not known whether the orca gangs came up with the idea of going on a ramming spree on their own (i.e., behavior that's "self-induced") or whether it was triggered by some "aversive incident" and is, thus precautionary. A shot across the bow, as in we'll get you before you get us. 

Scientists on the "triggered behavior" side of the theory of the case, believe that: 

...a traumatized orca initiated the assault on boats after a "critical moment of agony" and that the behavior is spreading among the population through social learning. (Source: Live Science)

They've also seen younger, smaller, less mature orcas imitating the behavior of the leader of the pack, starting out by shaking a boat's rudder, then adopting the leader's technique and doing full-force body slams at a boat's side.  

Some don't see this behavior as being a purely juvenile gang phenomenon. Here's what one witness on an attacked sailboat in the Strait reported:

Greg Blackburn, who was aboard the vessel, looked on as a mother orca appeared to teach her calf how to charge into the rudder. "It was definitely some form of education, teaching going on," Blackburn told 9news.

This blows a hole in the juvenile gang theory. 

Experts suspect that a female orca they call White Gladis suffered a "critical moment of agony" — a collision with a boat or entrapment during illegal fishing — that flipped a behavioral switch. "That traumatized orca is the one that started this behavior of physical contact with the boat," [biologist Alfredo] López Fernandez said.

Maybe the mother that Blackburn saw was White Gladis; maybe White Gladis had educated the other mother orcas. Sort of an orca version of Ma Barker.   

Can't blame them for pushing back on those encroaching on their territory, especially if some of their own have been injured by boats.

Anyway, whatever the composition of the gangs - unruly juveniles, mom-and-kids - it's good to know that the orcas aren't the marine version of scorched earthers. While a few of the boats attacked have sunk, the orcas generally back off once they've done a bit of damage and made their point.

Whatever that point might be.

Maybe they're just sick and tired of humans.

Can't blame the critters.